


untitled

by orphan_account



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-07
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2018-04-25 06:53:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4950802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse of Jason, Tim and understanding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	untitled

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as something completely different so I apologize if the first half and the last half seem disjointed.

Tim wakes up to find Jason smoking on the tiny balcony. The door’s wide open and the city draft blows the gauzy curtains in Tim’s direction. He doesn’t know where he is, Jason’s apartment maybe? Last night is still just a mess of short vignettes and sore muscles, and as he turns over and feels the unfamiliar sheets against his bare skin he begins to wonder. 

Did he have sex with Jason? Surely not. But here he is, naked in a bed that isn’t his. Tim looks back over to Jason on the balcony. He hasn’t noticed that Tim is awake yet as he shifts his weight against the rusty railing and takes another drag from his cigarette. He’s wearing only sweatpants and his leather jacket because it’s chilly outside and Tim shivers slightly as another gust of wind blows through the sliding door. 

Quietly, he climbs out of bed. Passing the red and black costume lying in a crumpled pile on the floor, he picks up his ‘panties’ as Jason would call them and one of Jason’s t-shirts from a pile of clothes and pulls it over his head. It’s oversized on him and smells kind of weird making Tim wonder when the last time Jason did laundry was. Probably not any time recently. 

He pads across the floor, avoiding all the miscellaneous things that clutter it and steps onto the balcony. Grabbing the pack of cigarettes on the small table in the corner of the balcony he pulls one out and puts it between his fingers, the way the people in movies hold them. 

“You got a light?” Tim says, his usually so fluid voice gravelly from the full night of sleep. Jason’s looks at him out of the corner of his eyes before slipping the cigarette behind his ear and pulling a red bic lighter out from the pocket of his sweat pants. He tosses it at Tim so fast that a normal person would have let it fall to the floor but they’re robins, so Tim catches it with one hand. 

“Didn’t think Bruce let you smoke.” Jason runs his hand through his black and white hair and removes the cigarette from behind his ear to take another drag. 

“Bruce doesn’t have to know.” Tim says, cupping his hand to shield the flame from the wind. It takes a moment to get the damn thing to light but he does and sets the the lighter on the table with the cigarettes before leaning against the railing next to Jason. 

Jason laughs gruffly, crossing his arms on the railing. “Why would you want to smoke anyway?” 

“Isn’t that what you’re suppose to do after you have sex.” Tim says almost offhandedly. He laughs again both at that and the fact that Tim starts coughing after attempting to take a drag. 

“Here, like this.” Jason takes his cigarette, which is close to being a butt at this point, between his thumb and index finger and puts it between his lips. 

Inhaling slowly he holds the cigarette in place for a few seconds to let the smoke cool in his mouth and then pulls it away to exhale, blowing a bit in Tim’s face. “Think you can do it?” 

Tim nods timidly and coughs one last time, the smoke’s suffocating sensation still lingering in his throat. He does exactly as Jason did and as he exhales the soothing sensation of the nicotine washes over him almost immediately. No coughing or anything. He looks over to Jason who is grinning almost bitterly. 

“Figures you’d even learn to smoke stoges fast. Boy wonder doesn’t just stop at crime fighting, I guess.” Jason was doing it again. He didn’t to feel the need to refer to Tim as replacement anymore but more often than not he snuck snide comments like this into their conversations and it irritated Tim. 

He took another drag and purposely exhaled against the wind so the smoke would get in Jason’s eyes. They stood in silence for a few minutes and listened to the sound of cars and church bells and voices from the open windows that lined the streets around them. 

“What part of town are we in?” 

“Park Row.” Jason says, reaching back to put out his cigarette in the ashtray outside his bedroom windowsill. That’s where Tim would have guessed from the weathered brick of the buildings and clotheslines zigzagged above them.

“You mean Crime Alley? Little on the nose don’t you think, Jason?” 

“I grew up here. Nothing on the nose about that.” Tim shrugs and extends his hand, offering the rest of the cigarette to Jason. It takes him a moment and he scoots closer to Tim before plucking it from in between Tim’s fingers. 

They’re both still leaning on the railing when he does it. Jason turns in Tim’s direction and lifts his hand that isn’t holding the cigarette to Tim’s cheek. 

Running his fingers over Tim’s face, Tim can’t help think about how callused his hands are, rough against the soft skin that cover the apples of his own cheeks. Jason takes his time tracing over the features of Tim’s face before finally pulling Tim’s bottom lip down with the pad of his thumb. 

After inhaling on his cigarette, Jason leans in ever so slowly and presses his slightly parted lips to Tim’s, breathing the smoke into Tim’s mouth. Even though all it is is cigarette smoke it feels intoxicating to Tim and he inhales it all at once to the point where he’s lightheaded. As Jason pulls away Tim feels his knees give out a bit and he collapses against Jason’s chest, still breathing smoke out of his lungs. Jason catches him and grins when Tim looks up at him, his wide eyes brimming with beaded tears. He coughs several times into Jason’s chest.

“I shouldn’t be here.” Tim whispers, almost inaudible. 

“C’mon, what happened to ‘Bruce doesn’t have to know.’” 

Tim can still feel the smoke in his nose and creeping up his throat but ignores it. “I’m damaged goods, Jason. You don’t want to fuck me.”

Jason flat out snorts.

“You’re damaged goods? Tim, you’re talking to the king of damaged goods. Everything I touch is damaged goods. Hell, I’m practically Midas when it comes to damaged goods.” At this point Jason’s pulled away. He looks mad and Tim can understand that a little. Better wording next time, maybe. 

“That came out wrong.” Tim murmurs. 

“Yeah.” It comes out as more of a scoff than anything else, but then Jason sees the hurt look on Tim’s face and recants. “Sorry, I lose my temper sometimes.” Tim raises an eyebrow and Jason sighs. “A lot. I loose my temper a lot.” After a pause he speaks again. “You need a ride back to the manor?” 

Tim shakes his head. The last thing he wants to do is go back to the manor reeking of cigarette smoke. Smoking wasn’t exactly accepted in their family. He turns around and goes back into Jason’s bedroom. Jason follows. 

“We didn’t have sex last night.” Jason says, putting out Tim’s cigarette in yet another ashtray. “You’re still a virgin, incase you were worried about that.” 

“Even if we had it wouldn’t be my first time, Jason. You’re not that special.” Tim crawls onto Jason’s bed and settles in the middle as he says this. He would be angry that Jason assumed he’s still a virgin at eighteen but he’s too high on that kiss to care. Jason sits down on the edge. 

“Let me guess, clone kid?” He sounds nonchalant and Tim tries to hide the blush spreading across his cheeks. “I was kidding but gauging your reaction you did fuck him which is really funny, Tim.” Pulling his knees farther to his chest he quietly prays that Jason will let the subject drop. “Was it beautiful and tender and everything you’ve ever dreamed of? Or was that how he broke your arm?” 

“Please stop.” His whole face is red by now and Jason is laughing like it’s the funniest thing in the world. 

Jason’s laughter fades out but Tim still has his fingers covering his eyes. 

They let the sounds of the city drown out their thoughts for a few minutes. Tim peeks through the spaces between his fingers and sees something he wasn’t expecting. Jason when he thinks no one is watching. He’s staring out the open doors and there’s a certain wistfulness in his expression. It’s strange to see him like this. Jason was very guarded, he wanted everyone to believe he was a diamond, tough and unbreakable, but Tim knew better.   
Jason stands up from the bed and starts rifling through a dresser drawer. When he seems to find what he’s looking for he turns around and tosses a pair of jeans at Tim. 

“Get dressed, I’ve got stuff to do today and if you’re not gonna go back to the manor you’re coming with me.” Tim looks at the denim sitting in his lap and started to say something about how they weren’t going to fit him but Jason tosses a belt at him and starts to get dressed too. 

As they make their way down the dimly lit hall of Jason’s apartment building, Tim keeps his eyes locked on Jason’s back. He didn’t know where they were going and that worried him. It could be anything with Jason. “I didn’t know you had a car?” He says as Jason leads him off the stoop and down the street to a parking garage on the corner. 

“Something like that.” And something about that just didn’t sit right with Tim. 

Tim now finds himself sitting on the back of a shiny red motorcycle with his hands wrapped around Jason’s waist. The wind whizzing past them is only a muffled whir inside of the helmet Jason had insisted he wear. They had already stopped at a grocery store and Jason had bought a bunch of gerbera daisies.   
Tim had asked him what they were for but of course he didn’t get an answer. 

It’s strangely comforting, the sound of the highway and the closeness of Jason’s body. It almost feels like it’s always been this way. Just him, Jason and the pavement. They’re riding down highway 81 which follows the bay separating them and Metropolis, home of Superman and sometimes...

Tim shakes his head slightly and clenches his eyes shut. He doesn’t want to think about Conner right now so he focuses on the way the wind is billowing through Jason’s hair and without thinking he sets his chin on Jason’s shoulder. 

They exit the expressway a little ways outside of the city and start heading through the suburbs. The scenery changes with each turn they make and finally they end up going down a gravel road. After a little while Jason slows down and pulls over into a dirt parking lot and flips out the cycle’s kickstand. Tim detaches himself from Jason’s waist and they both climb off. 

“Are you going to tell me where we are?” Tim says, taking the helmet off and running his hands through his tangled hair, but Jason’s already walking away. He jogs to catch up and realizes after passing several headstones that they’re in a cemetery. Jason seems to know exactly where they’re heading and Tim decides to keep quiet and follow him. 

It’s a nice cemetery. Lots of space between plots and a canopy of trees covering almost every one. There’s no one else there and Tim wonders why Jason would bring him here.

Finally they stop in front of a modest gravestone, one of those that sits flat on the ground and made of granite. Jason pauses for a moment, unwraps the daisies from their plastic casing and takes a few steps forward. He’s standing a little far back but from here Tim can make out the name on the stone. 

Jason Peter Todd

“After Bruce removed my gravestone, I bought my own and moved it out here.” Jason says with his back to him. As Tim does the math in his head the slow realization dawns on him and suddenly he feels so incredibly stupid. 

April 28th, the anniversary of Jason’s death. 

“Jason...” Tim says, so quietly he’s not sure he can even it hear himself. 

“I know it’s a weird thing to do but...it felt right. If everyone else was going to ignore it, I sure as hell wasn’t.” He turns around slightly and Tim can barely see the water threading the waterline of his eyes. 

“Jason, is this why you sought me out last night?” He steps forward so he’s in line with Jason. “You didn’t want to be alone?” 

He’s quiet for a moment. “Sorta.” Tim knows Jason is regretting bringing him along, he can see it in the furrow of his brow and the way he’s pursing his lips.   
Desperately, he searches for a way to communicate without words. To tell Jason that it’s okay. He doesn’t have to feel this way alone. But all he ends up doing taking Jason’s free hand and fitting it into his. 

They stand there for awhile. Tim’s small fingers laced with Jason’s much larger ones. 

“You could have just told me,” Tim whispers. Jason laughs. 

“What, a confrontation on the rooftops of Gotham doesn’t scream ‘spend time with me’ to you?” Unlocking fingers, Jason sits sets the flowers on the grass and sits down in front of the gravestone, patting the ground next to him, Tim follows.

“I’m sorry, for not remembering...or realizing.” Tim says, scooting closer. Jason squints in the light of the sun through the trees as he looks at him. 

“Don’t be. It’s not anything significant.” 

“It’s significant to you.” 

“Oh Timmy,” He says smiling and wraps his arm around Tim to pull him in. “You always know what to say, how is that?” 

“What can I say, I’m the opposite of Damian.” Jason whispers ‘gremlin’ under his breath and they both laugh a little harder than they should.   
'  
“Look, Jason! A robin!” Tim says excitedly, pointing in the branches of the tree closest to them. 

“I don’t see it.” 

“Right....there” Leaning in closer he points at it’s place among the leaves. They both stare at it for a minute, until it flies away, and then Tim notices just how close he and Jason are. The feeling of Jason’s breath on his cheek catches him off guard especially. 

Turning towards him, Tim sees Jason in a different light. Both literally and figuratively. They lean in ever so slightly and sooner than he expects their lips are pressing against each other. He can taste sweat and the scent of cigarette smoke is prevalent but Tim doesn’t care. 

It’s something Tim hadn’t known he wanted until this moment. Every part of Jason. Every aspect of his mind, his body, his smart ass quips. All of it. And he wanted it for himself. 

The kissing becomes more frantic, disjointed, passionate and soon enough Jason is running his hands up Tim’s waist, past the folds of his oversized shirt. He lifts him up so Tim is in Jason’s lap, straddling him somewhat. Jason looks up at Tim through half lidded eyes. 

“I know the clone probably tells you this all the time but you’re beautiful, Tim.” He says hazily. 

“Don’t...Don’t talk about Conner right now.” Tim hears himself murmur but the end of it is garbled because now Jason is kissing his neck and oh god it’s better than Alfred’s cooking and the sound of a crook hitting the pavement put together.

They kiss like this for some time and when Tim pulls away Jason whispers about going somewhere more private and Tim can’t help but smile as he nods. 

Tim goes to climb off Jason’s lap but he tightens his grip. “Hold on, Red.” He says as he stands up carrying Tim with him. 

“Jason! Put me down!” Tim manages to yell through laughing, but this only makes Jason hold on tighter and Tim gives up until they get to where the motorcycle is parked. 

*** 

Although Jason may think that that little boy in green briefs is back under that tombstone but Tim knows in this moment that he’s never been more wrong. The little boy in green briefs is alive and he’s driving a candy red motorcycle.


End file.
